What to call a new menu item? Need your ideas!

[sophiejj]

I am a menu writer and head of R and D and we have a new salad that was well-received in a recent tasting panel. It is a salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, shredded cheddar , hard boiled eggs and house-mace croutons. I know this sounds very basic, but this is a kid's lunch menu and it was a hit!
Last year we had a menu item that was a vegetarian salad with much of the same but kidney beans instead of egg and it was called, "Farmer's Market Salad." It was NOT a hit and I think the name turned kids off. I hate that a good lunch option could suffer not because of yumminess, but because of a name.
What would be a fun, kid-friendly, but descriptive name for the new salad with egg?

Thanks for your ideas!!

[Will Owen]

Sunshine Salad. All that bright color, topped with white and yellow. And I'm assuming those are house-MADE croutons? That's a great color note there, too. I'd sure eat it; although I'm well past the target age here, I still tend to eat (and think!) like a kid …

Kidney beans were I think a bad choice, because kids don't tend to like maroon food. It's not a naturally appetizing color for most people (I was weird - I LIKED prunes!). I'd bet that was most of the turnoff, though the unexciting name could not have helped. It sounds so … virtuous. "Bloody Boogers" might have worked better ;-)

[Isolda]

If your tasting panel included children, and I hope it did, I'd ask them what to call it. Otherwise, I'd just call it "You Can't Order the Chicken Nuggets Unless You Order This"

[David11238]

Golden Egg Ensalada

[LaLa]

I dont think it was the NAME that turned the kids off last years choice.

[chefdaddyo]

Why do you have to 'name' it? Why not just list the ingreds so everybody knows exactly what it is? Salad of........

[greygarious]

Nickelodeon Salad - to the kids, it has a popular cable channel connotation, but it came to my mind because some of the ingredients are also in Salade Nicoise.

[travelmad478]

I do not mean to be denigrating sophiejj's profession, but am I the only person a little stunned to hear that a director of R&D *and* focus groups are required to come up with a salad made with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese, hard boiled eggs and croutons?

Sorry, but this state of affairs is just depressing, no matter what the salad's name is.

[chowser]

I did think that, too--what makes this salad "new" and why were there tasters/focus groups and R&D folks needed to come up with that? Years ago, I worked at a large food conglomerate (produce) and with their R&D group made up of PhDs in food science but they weren't needed to come up w/ ideas that essentially already exist. Is the next R&D project a pb and j sandwich?

[escondido123]

I totally agree and wonder about the focus groups...but then as I kid I wouldn't have liked the egg or cucumber.

[Terrie H.]

Kids (and adults) seem to love things described as crunchy or cheesy, so maybe a Crunchy Cheesy Salad would appeal.

[DonShirer]

Clucky Cheese Salad

[runwestierun]

What Brontosauruses Eat For Breakfast Salad

[chowser]

An E.L.T. salad (Eggs, lettuce, tomatoes)
Megg-a yummy salad (get it, mega yummy?)

[obsessed with food]

"Eggs-tremely Cheezy Crunchy Salad"

[Karl S]

What kind of lettuce?

What kind of tomatoes? Cherry, grape, red, golden . . . or tasteless supermarket tomatoes? (If the last, you should simply replace them with black grapes or, if not in season, red grapes; do not ever bother with those kind of tomatoes.)

Anyway, I would call it Greens, Eggs, and Bam!

[escondido123]

I have the feeling your name is sooo much better than the salad!

[Karl S]

Thanks!

So do I!

I'd like to think it's a nice lettuce (not that I have anything against iceberg, but to me, iceberg is a speciality lettuce) and decent tomatoes (but in food service, I'd suspect not, since they have to refrigerate produce, and refrigerated tomatoes are a waste of taste and $$$, so substitute grapes, which have a better yield and taste when refrigerated). And I'd switch from cheddar to feta if I could (and generic SYSCO-level feta is just interesting enough for kids without being offensive, and it keeps well).

[sophiejj]

The sysco level feta isn't guaranteed rBST free, so I can't use it. Just one of the MANY hurdles I face on a daily basis when sourcing for ingredients!

[sophiejj]

You might be right, it probably would raise expectations, but it is organic romaine, chopped summer tomatoes... and kids like basic. Put feta and cranberries on the salad, and you never hear the end of it:)

[sophiejj]

This is GENIUS!:) I probably won't be able to get away with this for the actual name, but maybe in the description somewhere:) Karl, you are a witty poet!

[jmcarthur8]

Ee - i -ee - i - o salad.

[sedimental]

How about "egg-citing salad"........ or "egg-cellent salad"...or .........you get the idea.

[escondido123]

Call it a "Super Cheddar Cheesy" salad and it's sure to sell. Don't mention the egg or half the kids will run away.

[arktos]

I'd call it a 'Meatless Chef's Salad', because that's what it is.

[ipsedixit]

Maybe call it a "Waiter's Salad"?

Because, y'know, waiters don't earn as much as chefs and can't afford meat? Just throwing it out there....

[sophiejj]

I'll like where you're going. Probably too much of a stretch for most 4th graders to make the connection, but I like the play on pay!